I am blessed by my operating environment. My competition don’t have a clue as how to run a self serve andIBA operation. Have attached two pictures of the closest wash to me. The place has two PDQs and three ss bays. It is located on the busiest street in the city and I think they own other sites in the city. One of the IBA has been down for a month. Two of the three ss bays are down. Unfortunately this has become common around the state. Although it’s good for me it just gives the industry a black eye. (Can I still say that?) all part of the growth cycle of the business I guess.
My competition?
- Thread starter mac
- Start date
tdlconceptsllc
Well-known member
Looks like to me that's the wash to Buy.
John J Spokas
Active member
yea!! Buy it!!
Mac, the reason they are letting it go downhill is they are probably burned out. I’ve seen it many times. A new owner will buy a car wash sink a boat load of money into it thinking they’ll kill off the competition and then very quickly get burned out. After 38 years we are getting to the point that we are getting tired or burned out so we are letting a lot of things slide. Most of the car washes up here sit on property that makes them unsuitable for a car wash because the land values are so high. My car wash is for sale for land value. Mac your still a virgin in the car wash business. There’s huge difference between a distributor and an owner. Your still in the distributor mind set. Once you lose the distributor mind set and get the car wash owner mind set you’ll change, it’ll take a few years but you’ll end up hating the public. Wait until you’ve been broken into a few times, had your vacuums or coin boxes craved up, guns and foam brushes stolen, been dumped on etc.
washnshine
Well-known member
In the self serve pic, the building looks pretty decent. Also looks like they put blowers in the bays. Seems like someone cared at one point - not so much now though!
Dan kamsickas
GinSan Technician
I can assure you mac already has a pretty health disdain for most of the public.....
Dan I’ve been on both sides of the fence. Bring a distributor I turn off the phone, lock the door and we are done for the day at 5pm. As a distributor I never got a call on Christmas morning that someone had caved in the back door of the car wash or had to deal with theft, vandalism, loitering, having the homeless digging in the garbage etc. It’s almost like being a grunt in combat, unless you’ve been there and experienced it you don’t really know what it’s like.
Well self diagnosis is always tricky. I have owned several washes and always sold them at a profit. This particular was was bought by two guys who thought they knew the business. It’s gone downhill since. I hope I never get to the point of hating people. I am in a low crime area with a police substation 200’ away. Trash just has not been an issue. I have a great customer base. Most love my wash and it’s fun to talk to most. Also nice seeing the young ladies vac out their car after coming from the beach. Any here are welcome to stop by if you are ever down here. P
One of the reasons I stay so upbeat is 2 or3 times a month a customer will see me and just say how much they like the place. Everything works, pumps are set around 1500 psi, chemicals are top shelf, and I keep the dilution for a great show. Most all of our reviews now are 5 star. And because I’m semi retired and sold by distributor ship, i don’t have the pressure of a real job. Life is good.
BenBranam
Member
That sounds horrible. I hope you can overcome this or are doing the right thing by starting another business. Thanks for the insight for us new people in the industry.
soonermajic
Well-known member
Mac, if it wasn't for ALL SS trash issues, it'd be a great biz.!! Congrats on that miracle!
soonermajic
Well-known member
Large part of Randy's problem is the area of the country. Beautiful area, w/ some of the most liberal tree hugging left wing hippie immoral people in the entire USA!
No way I could live there & certainly couldn't have a service business
No way I could live there & certainly couldn't have a service business
kentadel
Active member
I have, for the most part, a very good customer base. I started having trash/dumping issues at my vacuum areas so I removed my trash cans. Occasionally I will have someone leave a mess by a vacuum or in the corner of a self service bay. Ten years ago I never had these issues. Times and people have changed. Thank goodness for the loyal customer who appreciates the car wash. Without them it would be easy to be negative about both the public and the business.
I emboldened the above because I feel it fits in with a bigger expectation of unrealistic expectations. So many potential investors and newbie owners have them about our industry. They think they will print money year round and the business will hum along mechanically. That is not realistic. I'm in the state of Maryland There are four months out of the year where we print money, and that is if the weather works out for us. On the mechanical front, there is so much that can and will go wrong. With new equipment, there is also bound to be bugs.
My theory is that the sales teams of the installers have really done a hard sell and have convinced many gullible owners there are dozens of pots of gold. There is a pot of gold or maybe even a few to be found, but you have to know what you are getting into seasonally and mechanically.
seattleguy
Member
Large part of Randy's problem is the area of the country. Beautiful area, w/ some of the most liberal tree hugging left wing hippie immoral people in the entire USA!
No way I could live there & certainly couldn't have a service business
Randy is in Tacoma which is still a pretty good business climate compared to where I am in Seattle. I'm a liberal but the condition of this city would make your head explode.
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soonermajic
Well-known member
There are a few good liberals left. I know both of em.